They Don't Acclimate-They Decimate

More On The Diaries of a Slumlord-The Related Companies

Since I’ve finally managed to live in my van with the basic needs met, I am returning to my work, both creative & legally necessary. In more than 2 years time, The Related Companies have not reached out even once, to try & mitigate the damages, losses & difficulties their willful negligence has caused. Below is my latest editorial piece which I have sent to media, politicians, government agencies…feel free to share. This is a national disaster that should not be permitted, that’s affecting people with little to no recourse.#RelatedCoDestroys #RelatedCoPoisons #RelatedCoBullies #RelatedCoLies #RelatedCoBribes #RelatedCoEvicts #StephenRoss #BruceBeal #JeffBlau #MatthewFinkle #DavidPearson

Jan 15, 2024

Let me begin by quoting the marvelous author, Greg Isles, in his book, The Bone Tree: “…the true predators of 21st century America-the real estate developers…”

I could not have asked for a more pertinent or accurate introduction. Let me add my own quote, based on first-hand experience: “They don’t acclimate to a community-they invade & decimate it.”

Anyone who has read the articles or lived in areas invaded by huge developers knows exactly what we’re all taking about. The destruction of neighborhoods. The harassing & endangering of anyone who gets in their way. The obliteration of reasonable housing for anyone but the 1-percenters. The slapdash cheap elements & procedures chosen in a “lipstick renovation”, cheating & stealing from contractors, staff, maintenance, anyone on the payroll-to cut corners, provide the least amount of anything necessary, the bribing of those willing to look the other way, the punishing of those who won’t, & above all- the entitled attitude that if you’re not on board-there must be something wrong with you-it’s progress!

I am currently living in a Pro Master City van, with my husky puppy, Halo. I was poisoned by asbestos, silica dust & black mold, all confirmed by local inspectors & 3rd party environmental testing. I was forced to remain in an apartment that flooded regularly, had asbestos ceiling flaking & falling on the area where I prepared food, & where my dog slept, dealt with ceiling & walls disintegrated around me, forced to stack my belongings in closets or corners to avoid extensive damages, & more. These occurrences were daily-for nearly 3 years. I documented everything & continued to plead with Related/TRG to fix things, or move me to another apartment. I was initially ignored. Then I began to be targeted for retaliation for filing reports to address the horrifically unhealthy, unsafe & illegal conditions in my apartment & the building, the St. Andrews’ Residence in West Palm Beach. We had no elevators off & on for the whole 3 years I lived there. The sister building, the St. James, had no air conditioning for the entire summer, causing severe health issues & even a resident who died from complications resulting from the heat & her breathing difficulties. This has all been documented in the local papers, by staff on the contracting teams, & by city inspectors.

I have videos of the leaks, floods & continual damage in my apartment, the 15th floor, where I lived, & the elevators, where, when they did work, it was often raining in the elevator cab. The situation became exacerbated & terrifying when everyone realized Related/TRG was not going to respond appropriately. They arranged some sort of a deal, whereby they’d receive huge subsidies from the government, since they agreed to provide a complete renovation & subsequent affordable housing for the nearly 400 residences. Of course, they never completed what was outlined to both the housing authorities & the residents. Instead chipping away with cheaper staff & even cheaper elements, taking short cuts & compromising timelines, & the safety & health of everyone, including workers. One gentleman working on the 15th floor told me that he knows he’ll have to retire early, due to his exposure to all the toxic materials. He was adamant, that no one ever told the demolition & renovation crews that there were toxic elements everywhere. Nor did they provide anyone with protective or hazmat gear. In fact, several of us on the 15th floor provided masks to the workers whenever we saw them, in fear of what they were inhaling.

We lost my dog within a few weeks of the first exposures. Another resident lost her cat at the same time. Related can say as often as they’d like, that people & pets had previous health issues. Doesn’t everyone? The professionals I’ve spoken to are willing to testify that when liver failure occurs out of the blue, it’s usually from exposure to toxins. Much like the pericardial infusion around my heart, also with no history of such troubles. According to the Mayo clinic, it can also be an inflammatory result of exposure to toxins. It may or may not dissipate. As one professional stated “First, the birds. Then the cats, then the dogs. Then, the people. The order in which toxicity will harm & perhaps kill creatures exposed.

Once people started to complain in earnest, always in a correct fashion, through emails, voicemails, & requests for meetings with management, & authorities who might be able to help, different damages were forced upon us by Related & their onsite management TRG. People started receiving Notices To Cure, or Notices To Vacate, full of fabricated allegations that were supposedly in violation of our leases, & cause for a Non-Renewal Of Lease, ergo, a forced eviction. There were definitely retaliatory measures put into play, especially concerning, the obvious racial discrimination. Unfortunately, most people think racism only occurs in one direction, from white people, towards people of color.

That is untrue. Some of the most rabid racism I have ever experienced or witnessed was here in South Florida, from the Hispanic community towards anyone else, white or black, who expects them to acclimate to an American lifestyle, language or social mores. The TRG Manager onsite, had a 10-year history of favoring Hispanics with no-wait parking spaces, while everyone else waited 2+ years, to moving people to suites, jumping the established waiting list, to simply forcing or bribing staff to lie about residents the Manager deemed problematic. It was a constant, aggressively abusive situation, that Related/TRG was informed about, from many residents, when they bought the building. I myself met for nearly 3 hours with David Pearson & sent follow up documentation to both him & his boss, Matthew Finkle, of Related Affordable in New York. They ignored everyone. They did nothing about the worsening conditions, albeit receiving letters, emails, videos, reports from inspectors about chronic problems that were code violations, failed inspections, & other 3rd party verification. Photos, videos, official reports, complaints from myriad residents, all pleading for their intervention. To no avail.

This summer, (2023) between May & August, there were several of us who had by now received multiple letters from lawyers representing Related/TRG, full of false allegations they were using to get rid of any of the whistleblowers. Quite simply, that’s illegal, along with everything else they did. Related Affordable in New York, was kept apprised weekly, & sent copies of everything. Still, no one reached out. They will continue to say that TRG should have been handling it. But they were fully aware that nothing was being handled properly or legally. Nota-this tactic, of saying the management company is responsible, is used by Related & other developers, see below. The developers own these management companies, & nothing is done without the owners’ knowledge & permission. They were sent evidentiary proof of everything they were illegally perpetrating, including constant complaints about unsafe & unhealthy conditions, verification from officials & agencies who were contacted for help. Related/TRG’s response? To hire a lawyer who did nothing but send out a plethora of nasty, threatening letters to residents full of bogus accusations to intimidate, bully & silence whistleblowers. It was a fiasco in every sense, & Related knew about all of it… & did nothing, allowing residents to be lied to & about, harassed, threatened, endangered, & deprived of any sense of quality of life legally mandated by the law.

The culmination of all these machinations? I was forced to evacuate my apartment, because the lawyers Related/TRG hired, had served me with legal directives I had to comply with, however false the allegations were, & no matter that they had coerced, threatened or bribed staff & residents to get what they wanted. Or face the police padlocking my door & bodily removing me & my dog from our home, as they did with another resident who refused to leave.

I was lucky enough to be able to finance my little van, so I would at least, not be homeless on the streets. Nonetheless, as a disabled, 68-year-old woman, I live with no running water or electricity, & am constantly forced to find safe, new places to park. The horror show continues.

What keeps me reasonably calm? My ire, as I fight back, knowing that developers all over the country are doing these same horrific things to thousands of people, most of whom do not have the wherewithal, in every sense, to wage a battle to defend themselves, for fear of hideous & abusive retaliation.* See the references below to the many articles describing exactly this sort of company policy & procedure by the wealthiest developers in the country.

I filed my Circuit Court civil suit against Related & their subsidiaries & affiliates, just before I was forced out. To date, my case is still listed as in active status. They have thrown 9 lawyers & several paralegals at me, trying to batter me into curling up & disappearing. That is a pipe dream. I will continue to fight or die trying. Especially since they willfully, purposefully threatened anyone in the building who tried to help me. Case in point: I had a friend in the building, with whom I shared meals, often, & who would pet sit my dog when I had appointments to go to. Once I was forced out, this friend accepted packages until I got set up, allowed me to come & have lunch or dinner & take a shower, & continued to pet sit when I needed it. Eventually, a few months in, a letter was sent stating the friend had 7-Days To Cure, or they would be in violation of their lease & subjected to eviction too. The letter, which has been submitted to the Court in my case action, also stated that there was a “No Trespass Warrant” issued (there wasn’t), that if I appeared at the building, the police would be called, as if I were a criminal, & that no one in the building was to allow me or my dog access to their apartments. When the friend asked why my dog would not be able to visit, since I have stayed away, knowing how aggressively Related/TRG was retaliating, the response was: “Unfortunately… New York said no.”

This was a vicious, calculated, willful attempt to isolate me, & make everything harder &more time-consuming & expensive, since my friend was warned not to remain my friend, or offer any help. This was clearly done to make everything harder & more expensive, to harass & continue to punish me. And, it’s all been fully documented & witnessed. This has already cost me thousands in equipment, campsite fees, storage unit, wireless internet, doggy daycare, & more. Related/TRG is obviously hoping to strangle me physically, psychologically & financially, in hopes of my giving up.

I will not. Until the Related Companies are held accountable in front of a judge & jury, which the Court has agreed to, I will remain in the area, so I can proceed with my Circuit Court suit. I have more than enough to meet every standard of the burdens of proof. And Related/TRG knows it, or they wouldn’t still be actively trying to bully & harm me, throw legalese spaghetti at the wall with 10 lawyers & several paralegals engaged to create delays in hopes of a dismissal, or my relinquishing the case. With each send to them, I always end with:” I am amenable to discussions, mediation & negotiations of any sort, in an effort to resolve this before trial. Again, to no avail. No one has ever reached out to offer anything at all, in the last 2 years. But, according to the law, Related/TRG will be forced to mediate, as a prerequisite to trial. And then, everyone will review the more than 200 items submitted as evidentiary corroboration supporting my case & see clearly, that Related /TRG thought themselves to rich & powerful to ever be held up by one petite, disabled senior citizen with limited means, but a will to survive & seek justice for their willful negligence & subsequent cruel & abusive retaliation.

My healthy & productive life was permanently damaged, & my ability to live safely & peacefully, was destroyed. It’s not hyperbole or melodrama. Simply a statement of fact that I can & will prove in Court.

I will remain here, in my van, & count the days until the Related Companies are exposed for the greedy, corrupt slumlords they truly are-albeit all their glossy PR. It’s an interesting note that the St. James & St. Andrews properties are not mentioned or pictured anywhere on the Related Companies website. I wonder why?? Could it be they’re afraid for the public & the Courts to see how they systematically abuse, lie to, defame, endanger, threaten & evict people who don’t have any recourse as per other living arrangements, or legal remedies? Banking on bullying everyone, if they can’t bribe them, until there’s no one left who dares fight back?

Jo-Anne Sparta: Professionally found as Concierge Jo-Anna (Silver-Sparta) on LinkedIn, YouTube, FB, IG & Medium.com.

15th Circuit-Judicial Court-Palm Beach, FL Case # 50–2023–012067-XXXX-MB

References:

- “Mohorn accused the owner of the apartment complex of taking advantage of tenants who lacked the resources to force the owner to make needed repairs. And if tenants complained too often or went to the county, they were ordered to leave.” Mike Diamond, Palm Beach Post Referencing a pattern of conduct by other landlords.

-”Violations of unprecedented scope and severity:” NFL fines Stephen Ross for tampering with Tom Brady Miami Dolphins owner and Related prez Bruce Beal suspended-Corruption fines from Holden Walter-Warner, The Real Deal

-Violation Tracker: Company Name: Related Companies: Real Estate-Total Fines To Date For Offenses: $14,537,801

-Too many lies to count told by Related/TRG to Mike Pacenti in his expose in the Palm Beach Post-March 9, 2023

-Pull up the Better Business Bureau’s listing of the Related Companies in New York. These egregious & illegal patterns of conduct are mentioned in complaints from all over the country. They have a D- rating, & the complaints are all eerily similar. Bad reviews & complaints for their subsidiary/affiliate-TRG Management as well. Horrific business practices well-documented everywhere.

- Describing the same tactics used by Harbor Companies-another big developer: “The Cease & Desist likely constitutes another form of harassment seeking to bully the tenant into silence. The landlord would have to prove the tenant was a “Nuisance” before they could evict him, as in perpetrating illegal activity, or creating

safety hazards. Any housing authority lawyer would laugh them out of court for this.” Jake Offenhartz-The Gothamist-Jan.2020

- Together with the data, the tenants’ stories indicated that the worst corporate investors are responsible for hazardous housing conditions in homes they purchase and rent out. The company’s business model appears to rely on keeping rehab and maintenance costs low while generating as much revenue as possible. (Speaking of Vinebrook Homes, Cerberus Capital Management, Property Management wing, FirstKey Homes. (This is common practice too, for the company to also own the management company, as Related owns TRG. They present themselves as separate entities, to avoid accountability.) “It was like living under a slumlord.” that’s how I felt.” Claire Rafford/Ko Lyn Cheang-The Indianapolis Star

Nota: All of these tactics were suffered by me & countless other resident whistleblower. Local officials, Inspectors, the police & fire departments, & HUD knew about everything, but never intervened, especially concerning the legally required hearings that must take place before you can evict someone from a rent-regulated building. No one in our buildings ever got any hearings & some, like me, were evicted without any corroborative proof. That is just one of the many reasons I have filed my Circuit Court civil suit. I also have several other articles about these practices that will be submitted to the Court. These occurrences are happening all over the country, causing a tsunami of homelessness, especially in the senior population, where people on fixed incomed are forced out with no viable alternatives & most importantly, with no justifiable cause-except for the egregious, willful negligence coupled with a perennial greed.

In conclusion, please review this interesting legal argument about why a fraudulent Breach of Contract is a fraudulent, criminal offense: By: Vipin Tyagi: CEO, Hi-Tech Geosynthetics Pvt. Ltd. Published Aug 14, 2018

https://acrobat.adobe.com/.../urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:1852d5b3...

· The burden of proof is much higher in criminal cases, so although I believe Related/TRG have committed criminal offenses, I opted, as a Pro Se litigant, to pursue my case in civil court

.#RelatedCoDestroys #RelatedCoPoisons #RelatedCoBullies #RelatedCoLies #RelatedCoBribes #RelatedCoEvicts #StephenRoss #BruceBeal #JeffBlau #MatthewFinkle #DavidPearson